Future and Emerging Technologies towards 2030

All you need is batteries

Researchers and industry representatives have discussed the development of new battery technologies. The goal? Turning Europe into a key player in the global energy market

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“All you need is love”, the Beatles used to sing. No doubt, love is an essential part of our lives. However, other ingredients other than love also play key roles in our rapidly changing society. One example is our ever-changing batteries. They are certainly less poetic than love but they have become the fundamental pillars of our current habitual lifestyle. Its growing importance was highlighted during an EU workshop on Future Battery Technologies for Energy Storage, held in Brussels on January 10, 2018.

Batteries and energy storage are two of the main challenges that researchers and the industry have embraced

The workshop was organized by the European Commission services to bring together representatives from academia and the industry to talk about one thing — on how to let Europe join and, later on, play a key role in the “battery technology” challenge taking place all over the world. During the workshop, they debated on the next initiatives to be undertaken. As it turns out, they recognised the importance of the EU Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) funding programme as it serves as an optimal framework to embrace such a vital challenge of developing batteries using an environmental-friendly approach.

Moreover, they paid special attention to what they call, the “post lithium-ion batteries”. These are fuel cells that are made out of chemical elements and ions other than the lithium-ion batteries commonly used today. Why are these new kinds of batteries so important? It’s because these batteries have higher efficiency and are less toxic in comparison to the lithium-ion batteries. In addition, they may also ease the transition from fuel to electric mobility, thus leading to a “greener revolution” in the transport sector.